When driving through complex junctions, situations may arise when the audio assisted navigation systems may confuse the driver as to which turn to make. Moreover, each time the driver decides a maneuver, he has to focus on the navigation system which leads to losing control of the situation in front of the car. This can, in fact, lead to a lot of problems including causing accidents, the driver taking a wrong turn and driving more to get back on the path, and so on. Apostera aims to solve these hurdles of the driver by transforming the windshield of a car into a mixed reality screen displaying important information that is necessary for effective navigation. Also, the company aims to better not only the driving experience of today's vehicles but also the future ones with autonomous driving capabilities by keeping the passengers informed about the behavior of their vehicles, thereby increasing their trust in these machines and overall security. “With our mixed reality navigation guidance technology, we are addressing the challenges of today’s driving experience and a very important challenge of tomorrow’s driving experience,” says Andrey Golubinskiy, CEO of Apostera.

“Our platform merges the virtual and real worlds helping drivers understand in an exact way where to make a maneuver. We are talking about carefree, more enjoyable driving experience,” remarks Golubinskiy. The drivers always have not only a clear view of what is going on in front of them but also around the corner with Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) and Vehicle to Vehicle communication (V2V), and all the hints are virtually projected in the certain distance in front of the car.

Additionally, the company considers its platform to be “true” mixed reality because all the environmental objects like buildings and lanes are precisely overlaid, and it does not overlay those navigation hints on the vital information for the driver such as vehicles or pedestrians. Golubinskiy claims that these factors make them stand out in a budding industry. This platform can also be implemented in those cars without AR HUDs by taking the AR video from front-facing cameras and streaming it to the central infotainment system with IVI kinds of displays.

Apostera also aims to improve the riding experience of rear seat passengers through the platform’s AR for rear seat entertainment feature. The idea behind this product is to use the video from the front-facing camera and then place some places of interest (POIs) or landmarks. While driving through the area, a window inside the car shows passengers these POIs which can be clicked to gain information about the place. This can be used to provide people with location-based advertisements. These advertisements have a deeper influence on the customers.

Even though the market is still flourishing, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are looking to bring this technology to market in the next two to three years since the demands are very high. Owning to which, the company is currently working with different OEMs and tier one companies to bring this technology to the market. Proof of concepts and prototypes has been accomplished in various regions including Asia, Europe, and North America. “We have also got positive feedback from ODMs (Original Design Manufacturers) and from the market about the value that our technology brings to cars,” adds Golubinskiy.

With a global footprint covering Europe, North America, and China, Apostera aims to make its presence felt in other countries such as South Korea and Japan to close the loop of automotive locations worldwide. Additionally, they envision making their mixed reality navigation systems available in motorcycles and aftermarkets.